Gaseous-fuel heater.



UNTTED STATES PATENT oEEIcE.

.. l CLARENCE A. CROWDER, 0F BURLmGToNJoWA.

GASEO'US-IUEL HEATER.

Tqall yclio/n. it may concern. lie it known that l, LAREVC A. CRGW- maa,a citizen of the United States, residing at Burlington, in the county'of Des Moines and State ot Iowa, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Gaseousl"ul lleaters, of which the followingr is aspecification. y v

My invention relates to improvements in gaseous fuel heaters and `hasparticular reference to means for use 'in connection with the exhaust ofone. 'or more engines for heat; ing' and mixingthe chargebefore it isexploded.

One object of my invention is the provilion ot' a heater for use inconnection with any charagfter of combustion engine which can be op@ated practically and eiiiciently with `crude iiil. oil distillate,alcohol, or other inexpensive. liquids capable of suoli use, whereby agreat saving in-expense is insured by the usil of my improvement. i

Another object of my invention is the provision of a heater capable ofuse in connection with one or a series of cylinders of au engine andwhich, while insuring the highest degree of efficiency will be of thesiiuplest and cheapest possible construction and be very durable, thuscombinin the requisites to produce a thoroughly e cient improvement.

With these ends in view, my invention consists ot a heater of thecharacter sind for the purpose stated embodying novel ea-v ture ofconstruction and combination of parts, substantially as disclosedherein.

Figure l'reprcsents a side elevation of a heater coustrui'ited inaccordance with and einbixlying my invention. Fig. 2 represents acentral vertical sectional view of the beater. and Fig. trausvers(`sectional view ofthe invention.-

ln `general configuration, my heater is of rectangular shape, and sofsuch construction that it may be cast or formed in a single piece, andcom-prises the' outer casing or shell A, provided ait. one end with anopening B, and upon its upper and lower sides with a pair of. openings Cand D, which series of openings serve as connections for the exhaustpipe ,or pipes of a series of cylinders of an internal combustionengine, or for a singlecylinder, and when only a single cylinder isaccommodated, the openings (l and D may be closed by suitable caps orcovers, which are not shown, and all Specification o! Letters Patent.Applicatie mea March 1a, ma. smal No. 753.9%.

represents a vertical Patented July 7, 191e.

of these openings lead to the liot.air suru rounding space or chamber E,and this chamber' at one end is provided with ar Out-let F, whichpermits the escape of th@ products of combustion to the atmosphere.

'lhe heater is connected to the. manifold of a gas engine at N 4 or 0',according to the piping of the manifold.

The inlet of the exhaust can be connecten@Y at openings l", or V, whichare in' the. outside jacket ot' the heater. The. carini rctcr may beconiiected at l or Q, and the action of the heater is as follows: Thestrot-if. uf the piston ot' the internal combustion en` ,f riue, causesa suction of air and fuel from tbe carbureter at P, thenccthrouggh thechambers L, M, N. 'lhe exhaust from the engine flowing through thechamber ll, heats said chambers L, duction of vappr t'rom heavy oils'.The this N' is also provided with an opening N'. with which is connectedthe water supply pipe R leading;r from the valve casing SS., having theinlet pipe T, and in said valve casin,"r is a float ll, contri'illingravalve. which maintains a constant level in casingr S. Ai. thetop of thecasingr S, au air inlet pipe Se", is l'novided, where y the. air whichis drawn. therethrough by the suction of the engine passes over thewater casing and eariu the ries with itwat-er vapor. This permits onli7the proper amount of vapor to be drawn in by thersuction of the engineto form the. proper mixture with the kfuel for driving' the engine. Thepurpose of the opening V may also be to permit the introduction of ablow torch or`r other heating: agent .for the par of initially-heatingrthe fuel chambers or 'fines to vaporize the fuel that passe throughthese lines to thc engine. The ,torcl'i is used only when starting' theengine auii requires about three minutes to perform its office and theseopenings, when not in use are closed b v suitable caps or covers,-aswili be readily understood.

lt will be understood that when my heater is used with only one'cylinderthe inlets at the top and bottom of the casing are closed by means ofplugs or caps. as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3, and it. will alsobe understood that the torch openings, when not in use, are closed. andalso that my heater. properly connected when in use b v well known meanswhich l have not deemed nec` essary to show. the important. and vitalpoints to my invention residing in the fact.

M, N, causing a rapid prothat my heater is compact in size and capableof accommodating a number of cylinders, and also that the exhaust isused to heat the fuel and that the proper mixture of water with theheated fuel is insured to produce avmost efficient charge and at thesame time prevent improper explosion of the rl'zargc, and that generallyin every particular the hea-ter will prove thoroughly efficient andpractical.'

l claim:

lhe heater hereindescribed, consisting of a horizontal casing adaptedtov be connected between the carbureter and manifold of an internalcombustion engine, a plurality of inlets to any one of whichthepcarbnreter is adapted to be attached, and a plurality of outlets toany of which the manifold is adapted to be connected, horizontalpartition walls forming a circuitous passage for a pipe leadingltherefrom to the circuitous passage, a float valve` in said valvecasing` a'dapted to admit water to the latter, where-` j by watervaporis introduced intosaid passage, the side wall of said heater havingopenings 'adapted to permit the application of a torch for thepreliminary heating of said heater.

I n testimony whereof I afix my signatures in presence of two witnesses.

CLARENCE A. CROWDJER Witnesses:

C. J. An'rz, HAROLD W. LUND.

